“You need not push life about.” 

― Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

This is one of my favorite responses to the question “is it time to work or rest?”  (Full quote with short session is below!)

Yet we, especially westernized Americans, are brought up with the values of:

go to your extreme
work extra hard to make it work

make it work
make it work
make it work

I used to write that over and over in my journals, a sign of trying to fit things into a container that oftentimes wasn’t the right one. Or that I was simply trying to “contain” something or myself.

(That’s a recipe for anger…see last month’s blog post for more about that!)

The universe runs on more than just our own personal energy.

We are dynamic beings, composed of dynamic, interacting systems within and beyond our bodies.

We can rest into that.

We can also push into that.

However, I find it helpful to check in with my heart and my gut to know when to work or when to rest.

When we had to take my younger sister to the hospital from the birthing center at midnight 8 years ago because her little baby boy just wasn’t coming out, it didn’t phase me that I stayed up through the whole night doing BodyTalk for her and the baby, and supporting her legs while she was in the final stages of labor as the sun rose.

One could call that a “push,” but it was love coming through. That’s how it showed up in the moment. And I woke up in her hospital room armchair exhausted, with no idea where I was sometime that next morning.

Love-filled inspiration and passion are movements. It becomes harder to stop them than to let them flow.

And rest…I’ll just say that if you are blessed to find it in your days (and not on your phone), rest can be like an offering to your highest self. To fill the well and jump back into the world with full heart and energy to love and serve.

So…

What truly calls your heart to work?
When is your soul deeply called to rest?

Can you listen to what’s moving through you without questioning it, without your thoughts getting in the way?

I have no answers or solutions, as I believe we all have to experiment with and live into this choice daily.

But I do hear and resonate with this saying “You need not push life about.”

Here’s a short group healing video that you can watch and tap in to support yourself through this process.

Please feel free to share this, comment below, and be in touch if you want to do some one-on-one work.

With love,
Michelle

“When effort is needed, effort will appear. When effortlessness becomes essential, it will assert itself. You need not push life about. Just flow with it and give yourself completely to the task of the present moment… Don’t be afraid, don’t resist, don’t delay. Be what you are. There is nothing to be afraid of. Trust and try. Give your real being a chance to shape your life. You will not regret.” 

― Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj